Customer Satisfaction Surveys and Focus Groups

PENSION BENEFIT GUARANTY CORPORATION

Customer Satisfaction Surveys and Focus Groups

AGENCY: Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation.

ACTION: Notice of submission for OMB review; comment request.

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SUMMARY: The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation has requested that

the Office of Management and Budget approve a series of new collections

of information under the Paperwork Reduction Act. The purpose of the

information collections, which will be conducted through focus groups

and surveys over a three-year period, is to help the PBGC assess the

efficiency and effectiveness with which it serves its customers and to

design actions to address identified problems.

DATES: All comments must be submitted to OMB by April 29, 1996.

ADDRESSES: All written comments should be addressed to: Office of

Information and Regulatory Affairs of OMB, Attention: Desk Officer for

the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, 725 17th Street NW., Room

10235, Washington, DC 20503. The request for approval will be available

for public inspection at the PBGC Communications and Public Affairs

Department, suite 240, 1200 K Street NW., Washington, DC 20005, between

the hours of 9 a.m. and 4 p.m.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Marc L. Jordan, Attorney, Office of

the General Counsel, Suite 340, 1200 K Street NW., Washington, DC

20005, 202-326-4026 (202-326-4179 for TTY and TDD). (These are not

toll-free numbers.)

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44

U.S.C. Chapter 35) establishes policies and procedures for controlling

the paperwork burdens imposed by Federal agencies on the public. The

Act vests the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) with regulatory

responsibility over these burdens, and OMB has promulgated rules on the

clearance of collections of information by Federal agencies.

Executive Order 12862, Setting Customer Service Standards, states

that, in order to carry out the principles of the National Performance

Review, the Federal Government must be customer-driven. It directs all

executive departments and agencies that provide significant services

directly to the public to provide those services in a manner that seeks

to meet the customer service standards established in the Executive

Order.

The PBGC intends to establish a mechanism through which it will be

able to explore issues of mutual concern (e.g., kind and quality of

desired services) with its major outside client groups, i.e.,

participants and beneficiaries, plan sponsors and their affiliates,

plan administrators, pension practitioners and others involved in the

establishment, operation and termination of plans covered by the PBGC's

insurance program.

The areas of concern to the PBGC and its client groups will change

over time, and it is important that the PBGC have the ability to

evaluate customer concerns quickly. Accordingly, the PBGC is requesting

that OMB grant ``generic'' approval, for a three-year period, of focus

groups and surveys of the PBGC's outside client groups. Participation

in the focus groups and surveys will be voluntary. The PBGC will

consult with OMB regarding each specific information collection during

the approval period.

On December 29, 1995, the PBGC published in the Federal Register a

notice of intention to request OMB approval of these collections. No

comments were received in response to the notice.

This voluntary collection of information will put a slight burden

on a very small percentage of the public. The PBGC expects to conduct

focus groups involving a total of approximately 225 persons each year,

with a total annual burden of approximately 675 hours, including travel

time. (Some portion of this time may be spent completing surveys at

focus group meetings.) In addition, the PBGC expects to distribute

written surveys to approximately 1,600 persons each year (in most cases

as an adjunct to a focus group), with a total annual burden of

approximately 200 hours.

[[Page 14165]]

Issued at Washington, D.C., this 26th day of March 1996.

Martin Slate,

Executive Director, Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation.

[FR Doc. 96-7673 Filed 3-28-96; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 7708-01-P